A couple of weeks ago, Nana and Ave decided to rent a camper and go on a camping trip with Liliana and Dalila. On the first day, they arrived at Devil's Lake, and we went up to meet them, play at the beach, and have dinner.

Kyra decided to stay with them that evening, along with Luca. Since Astrid is still so young, we decided that I would bring her home so she could sleep in her crib. The following day would just be me and Astrid. But father-daughter day really started on the drive home.

Usually Astrid falls asleep in moderate-to-long car rides, but on the way home I decided I was still a bit hungry, so I stopped at a restaurant and ordered a chicken sandwich. While we were waiting, Astrid and I played in the car, with me reaching back to grab her hand and make funny noises at each other.

When we got back home, it was late and past Astrid's bedtime. I had showered her at the park so I could just put her to bed, but since she was still rather awake, we snuggled for a bit before bedtime.

Astrid has been teething lately, and I might have forgotten to give her medicine before bed. She woke up at midnight, probably with tooth pain. I ended up pulling her into bed with me since I was too tired to lean over the crib and get her back to sleep. She fell asleep as we snuggled, but I couldn't get to sleep. I was too worried I would roll over her in the middle of the night, so I put her back in her crib.

Of course, when we woke up that morning, I was still too tired, so I brought her back to bed again and we snuggled and chatted about the ceiling fan. (Kyra says Astrid thinks the fan is waving at her.) She's making all these funny noises now - not quite words, but she's trying.

After a morning of playing and reading, we went to visit the principal at Luca's school (Huegel Elementary). She's leaving for a new job in the southwest, and she was a really great principal. I wanted to say goodbye, and let her see Astrid one more time. During the school year, I would watch the kids in the mornings, and she was often out there too. During the warm spring weather, I would bring Astrid on occasion. Grandpa Bill was at school that day, too, cleaning up the school after Luca (and his classmates, I suppose). We had a good talk and headed home.

When we got back home, we decided to play ball in the front yard. Astrid took this little blue basketball and dropped it at the top of the driveway. It would roll down and I would catch it and bounce it back at her. A simple game, but she got a kick out of it.

During lunch, Astrid was being goofy and had food all over her hands. She started clapping for some reason, so I started clapping with her, and I tried to get her to do a clapping game. She thought it was hilarious. Once we cleaned up, it was time for more reading before naptime.

After nap, everyone else was scheduled to come back to our place. So ended a father-daughter day. I'll remember the laughter, playing in the car, snuggling, and clapping with food all over our hands.